Tag Archives: faith

If you look at The Baron’s Ring up on Amazon, it may shock you to discover that it was published in 2010. Yes, eight years ago I produced this Historical Romantic Suspense story of a handsome prince, Tristan, literally swept away from his father’s funeral to a land where a damsel in distress, enslaved by a sex trafficker, surely needs rescuing. But when the wicked witch comes back to haunt them and Tristan returns to his own land, he’ll find the price he’s already paid is not going to be enough to save his kingdom.

The Realmlands is a fictional place, rather than a historical setting, but the story otherwise has a medieval setting with spiritual warfare elements. At the time I wrote the first book, I envisioned a four-book series with men as the main characters. Eight years later, I have finally managed to finish book 2.

The Captain’s Blade takes up the story just after Tristan disappears.

After Tristan’s disappearance from his home country, his best friend Jonathan has no hope that Tristan survived an attack at the hands of his half-mad brother, the newly-crowned king Dunstan. Jonathan has responsibilities beyond Captain of the Guard, however, when he sails on a quest to fulfil Tristan’s long-held wish: To build a navy to protect their country from pirates.

Complications arise with that plan when Jonathan encounters an island kingdom in the grip of devilish wickedness and an exotic woman mercenary who demands information but keeps her own quest a secret. Another beautiful stranger claims she is a shipbuilder in a land where women are mere slaves and marriage chattel.

The creation of that marvelous navy of three ships costs Jonathan pain and turmoil he can hardly imagine. The shipbuilder vanishes and Jonathan is nearly killed, but the warrior woman and her six soldiers for hire rescue him and beg passage home with him.

Distrust of everything in that violent land makes him refuse her, but Jonathan will find more trouble and distress back home even amid the joy of discovering his lost friend is alive. What will happen when Jonathan sees again the beautiful mercenary his mother calls “his warrior woman?”

His navy will eventually return to the country where it was born, but will it be for a rescue or a war? Jonathan thinks he is prepared for spiritual warfare but he has no inkling of the grip demons have on the kingdom of the South Crescentlands and the principal island of Kolt’Kutan.

For a limited time, you can get both books in the Men of the Realmland for 99 cents each. Don’t miss out on this clean, uplifting Christian series.

(This is an excerpt from our book The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Readers’ and Writers’ Guide for Believers)

Philippians Three has a strange statement at the beginning. So then, my brothers, keep on rejoicing in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you; indeed, it is for your safety. (3:1) You may think some things in this book are repetitive, but as Paul says, repetition aids safety. You can’t tell people too many times to keep rejoicing in the Lord. How is it for your safety? Several translations mention the idea of safety, but one says it is “necessary.” Apparently good writers repeat things for our own good.
Counterfeiters
Paul not only wants to remind us to keep rejoicing, but he also wants us to remember to be on guard against false teaching. We mentioned counterfeiting in the introduction. We wish we could just avoid counterfeit Christians, but they are all around us. They also write books, so we need to watch out for them in what we read.
Dogs
In the Jewish culture, dogs are unclean. So perhaps Paul, when speaking about dogs, may have meant that we are not to accept what is unclean. Peter had a vision before preaching to Cornelius in which God showed him not to call anything common or unclean, and he had to learn that lesson more than once. Paul accused him publicly of wrongdoing when he separated from Gentiles to gain favor with visiting Jews. Peter was not to treat non-Jews earnestly seeking truth any differently from his fellow Israelites.
This is not what Paul is talking about here. He does not want people to pollute the church by inviting in those who are not cleansed from sin. Some people think we must show love for all by including everyone, regardless of whether their message is true.
Some believers participate in ecumenical meetings where people who do not believe the Scriptures and who teach heresy are allowed equal participation. We cannot love everyone so much that we allow them to cause confusion at best and corruption at worst in our churches. We should not be sucked in to believing error and watering down the word by what we read, either.
Evil workers
Those who put human, or even spiritual, experiences above the Word of God are evil workers. The Old Testament Scriptures warned against believing a prophet who told the people to do things the law told them not to. This might seem obvious, that a message opposite to the Scriptures is wrong, but so many people are sucked in by books communicating a heart-wrenching story, a vision of angels, a life-altering experience. Humans cannot rely on their feelings to decide who and what to worship. That’s why we have the Word of God. It is the perfect standard.
Mutilators
In Paul’s day, people came to the Gentile Christians and told them they had to be circumcised in order to be truly saved. There is nothing wrong with being circumcised. It is not mutilation in itself. Paul circumcised Timothy when he began to be a part of the ministry. Physical things become mutilation when they are works that people say we must have as part of salvation. Justification is by faith alone. A writer whose book demands works as part of salvation is mutilating the faith.
Paul says his former assets are liabilities, because confidence in the flesh is the opposite of confidence in Christ. We cannot save ourselves by our works. People in books can and should do good works, but not as a way to become justified.
Imitators
You might think that an imitator is a fake or a bad thing. But Paul wanted to be an imitator of Christ. During our college years an instructor gave an illustration using a pattern. We lay it on a piece of fabric so that we can cut out something that is exactly the same. But what happens to us, as human beings, when we lay the pattern of Jesus Christ onto our lives and begin cutting? Sometimes God picks us up, holds us side by side with Christ, and says, “You don’t look much like My Son.”
Some of the people in the books we read, fictional or real, don’t look much like Jesus Christ. They are imitating something quite different. We don’t want to be influenced by the kinds of books that give us the wrong kinds of patterns to imitate.
Forsake self
Paul, as stated above, tossed everything he once valued — his human works — onto the rubbish heap. The pattern of Jewish tradition apart from the Scriptures wasn’t making him look much like the Messiah. It is because of him that I have experienced the loss of all those things. Indeed, I consider them rubbish in order to gain the Messiah. (v. 8)
Embrace faith
Paul admonished us to do as he had done, to be
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but one that comes through the faithfulness of the Messiah, the righteousness that comes from God and that depends on faith.
(Philippians 3:9)
The books we read should teach this need to embrace this change, as Christ has embraced us, wholeheartedly.
Study Christ
I want to know the Messiah—what his resurrection power is like and what it means to share in his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, though I hope to experience the resurrection from the dead. (3:10)
How many books really teach us this kind of passion to know Christ better? How many self-help books really help us toward the goal of being Christlike in every aspect of our lives?
Emulate maturity
It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already become perfect. But I keep pursuing it. But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I keep pursuing the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly call in the Messiah Jesus. (3: 12-14)
Read books about the maturing process. Don’t dwell on the past, successes or failures, but keep seeking to answer God’s call and become more like Christ. Look at it as a prize to be won, not an ordeal to be suffered through.
Anticipate translation
Our citizenship, however, is in heaven … He will change our unassuming bodies and make them like his glorious body (3: 20-21)
Many books focus on this world, this life, and barely consider heaven. If they do, they focus on near-death experiences with visions of what it will be like, disregarding what it really takes to go there. We get to heaven by his glorious power. People practically worship heaven and angels in books, but we must worship Christ and focus on him.
Enemies
The Scriptures take two positions toward enemies. One is praying for their destruction. The other is Jesus Christ’s admonition to love your enemies. (Matthew 5:24)
Books that manage to balance those perspectives are excellent reading. Paul delivers his warning with a mixture of sadness and finality.
For I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of the Messiah. Their destiny is destruction. (3: 18-19)
Destiny of destruction
Loving your enemies does not mean you want them to keep on doing evil. Paul reassures believers that these people will not be able to continue to harm believers or the cause of Christ. Their days are numbered.
God of appetite
Easy believism, the prosperity gospel, and any beliefs that allow focus on self fall into the category of making your appetite your god. It is the opposite of everything Paul has been talking about. The shame is that it is common in Christianity.
Glory is shame
We read a blog that decried “divorce parties.” The writer was already angry that divorce would be considered a festive occasion. But a reader of his blog iced the cake by sagely justifying multiple divorces. What is wrong becomes right, and is then justified and even celebrated. Sin and freedom are almost synonymous in many books nowadays. Words are redefined to glorify what should be shameful.
Mind is earthly
For people who truly want to know Christ, the books written by shallow, world-bound people who claim to be Christians are easy to spot. But more and more people are losing their grip on the Scriptures and substituting expert opinions, devotional stories, commentary, studies, and popular sermons for Scriptures.

Hi, This is Mary Findley, Fox News reporter coming to you live from the beautiful Globe Life Park, home of the Texas Rangers. And though he has only heretofore given live interviews to Samantha Davenport, a Fox colleague, the phenom has agreed to speak with me briefly today to talk about Caryl McAdoo’s new contemporary Red River Romance One and Done. We’re waiting for this afternoon’s game to start. Here he comes now! Mister Johnson! I so appreciate this opportunity to –”

My pleasure. So, G. H., what do you attribute your meteoric rise to such phenomenal success and fame?

To God be the glory. All of it. I ruined my shoulder at fourteen, and ended up at third base in high school then at Texas. Over a year ago, the Lord healed it. A real life miracle. Though some might not like me calling it that, sure is what it was.

I guess since it’s your arm, you have every right. I have to say that I’m so flattered to be the only reported other than Sammi Dan who you’ve spoken to. Would you share why you put it in your contract that you only have to accept live interviews with her?

You know, she came down to Mexico City when the Rangers were still undecided. Seemed like the thing to do, you know a way to get to get to know her better. She seemed like an intelligent, fun lady. Everyone can see she’s beautiful.

Really? Simple as that? Wanting to know her more personally. I never would have guessed, but from a female’s point of view, wow! She must have been really thrilled. So G.H., you’re facing the Diamond Backs today, World Series winners back in ’01. Do you feel good about getting the win for Texas? Are you worried any?

Oh, I’ve made it a habit not to worry, hate insulting God that way. No, when you’re trusting Him, there’s just no need for it. I’m fine with facing Arizona, feel ready. They have a good team, but we’ve been right on point, and I’m expecting a victory!

The park is sold out again. After that first shutout of yours, it has been every game. What can you tell us about how that makes you feel?

Texas fans are the best in the World. This winning streak we’ve been on is definitely drawing them in, and that feels great, of course. The team is rocking, and every Ranger is playing their best. Put all that together, and you pack the ballpark. I love playing to a full house.

I don’t mean to pry, but it’s been reported that your grandfather named you after the Babe and his great uncle, arguably the best pitcher of all time, and here you are pitching like crazy, with even some pop in your bat. How about some insight before you go.

It’s true, my grandfather named me—that’s a long story I won’t get into—but he didn’t know if I’d be a slugger or a hurler, so he said he was only trying to cover all the bases. There was only one Babe Ruth, so I don’t like taking anything away from him, and my great-great-great-great Uncle Walter does still hold a few records, but you can’t forget the Rangers’ Nolan Ryan. The man’s a legend. I guess I could’ve been George or Walter, but when PawPaw asked—I think I was seven—I chose G.H. Thought it sounded grown-up or something.

Well, G.H., it was great talking to you this afternoon and we’re all cheering for you to keep your shutout sting going. Thank you so much.

You’re welcome, Mary. Thank you. Blessings!

And there you have it folks! The man of the day. You can read more about him in Caryl McAdoo’s brand new release (last week!) One and Done, book three in her Red River Romance series.

GIVEAWAY! Caryl has graciously offered a free digital copy from Amazon Kindle to one blessed commenter, so do not leave without telling her how much you’d enjoy reading ONE AND DONE!

Caryl and the gang loving the game

About the novel:
God can pull a fish out of water and make that thang smell like a rose. ONE AND DONE is an unlikely love story born of prophesy, nurtured in full view of the probing public eye, and seemingly doomed at its inception.
In this love story—sure to be enjoyed by men and women—with its Texas Ranger baseball backdrop and strong pitcher/batter hero, Samantha Danielle, cutest weather girl on Dallas TV, only dreams of sports reporting. Then her station sends her to scoop an interview with a pitcher Rangers’ management is hot after. George Herman Walter Johnson is undeniably a phenomenon on the mound, playing for a Mexican team. His charm and debonair bowls her over, but turns out, he’s such a goody two-shoes, she can’t even get him to first base.
Conflict flies as the wealthy ex-poker player, oldest Ranger rookie ever lays everything on the line in his quest to win her heart. She remains wary of his resistance. Will her bunt snag the man of her dreams…or his homerun drive her home?
ONE AND DONE is an unlikely love story born of prophesy, grown in full view of the probing public eye, and seemingly doomed because of the bride-to-be’s heathen condition. The pitcher follows Christ though, but can his faith that she is God’s woman for him carry them through to their happily ever after?
Reviews:
Faster than a major league outfielder pulling down a popup fly ball, Caryl McAdoo’s romance is guaranteed to snag baseball lovers and romance readers alike. This Christian story is written with wit, verve and Caryl McAdoo’s usual flare for dialect and spicy dialogue. Be warned. Those readers searching for a saccharine, man-meets-woman story will soon discover this is no sanitized romantic fairy tale.
From the beginning, the reader will identify with real people who live clearly in the mind, so much so, that a person can almost smell locker room sweat or the mouthwatering scent of spicy Mexican food. Identification with the hero and heroine is nearly immediate. With so much to rave about, this review cannot begin to cover all the delightful surprises, so the reader simply must buy “One and Done” to see for themselves.
–Cassandra Wessel, a Pennsylvania reader

Caryl has done it again. Another wonderful story with characters and a story line that had me hooked from the first pages. The author also gives a fun glimpse into the world of professional baseball and the players. It was enjoyable reading about G. H., a ball player, and Sammi, a TV reporter, and following their ups and downs in their spiritual journeys as they discover their love for each other. I was given a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and it is another one”” from this author that I definitely recommend.”
–Ann Ellis, a Texas Reader

Bio: Caryl McAdoo currently writes three series: the historical Christian ‘Texas Romance’; a contemporary ‘Red River Romance’; and The Generations, her Biblical fiction. The novelist loves singing new songs the Lord gives her, and she paints. In 2008, she and her high school sweetheart-husband Ron moved from the DFW area—home for fifty-five years—to the woods of Red River County. Caryl counts four children and fourteen grandsugars life’s biggest blessings believing all good things come from God. Praying her story gives God glory, she hopes each one will also minister His love, mercy, and grace to its readers. Caryl and Ron live in Clarksville, the county seat, in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State.

Words mean things. “This is a green fence,” can be parsed, the adjective “green” and the noun “fence” can be made more precise, but the basic meaning of words is clear. I once had a business trip to plant where everyone spoke French. They found the one man who knew a little English. Between my knowledge of a little French and his knowledge of a little English, we completed our transaction. The old I Love Lucy show has a classic skit of a trip to Italy and the difficulty of a language (in that case several languages) barrier. No matter how difficult, language barriers can be overcome because words have meaning.

While some people believe that all reality is nothing but an illusion, for the rest of us, the material universe exists. We use words to describe it. The simple existence of the world is consistent with our experience. As John opens 1 John “what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands.” Reality either came into existence at some point in time or it is eternal. We describe this material existence with words.

Entropy says that all mass/energy transformations either conserve existing mass/energy at the level before the transformation or make the mass/energy less useable (a downward transformation as to the total available mass/energy). There has never been an observed exception to entropy.

This is consistent with the statement “In the beginning God created.” In six days God input and organized the mass and energy of the universe. Then God rested, that is, ceased inputting and organizing mass and energy. Later, God told Moses what He did and Moses recorded it in writing.

Today, the vast majority of mankind chooses to believe that this record is not true. They claim that their belief in deep time is based on evidence. But the evidence available to us today must be interpreted. We observe the surface of the sun, interpret that data and make assumptions about how the interior and core of the sun operate. These can be valid scientific theories, as long as we accept the limitation of being unable to verify our theories with observations.

These limitations apply to everything dealing with the past. In the recent past, we have written records to support the observable data. The recent past can be as recent as the assassination of JFK, or it can be the eruption of Mount Vesuvius burying Pompeii in A.D. 79. But without written records, we depart from science and rely entirely on interpretations of what we can observe today.

A light year is a unit of distance, not time. A God Who can speak the universe into existence can also place the photons of light across billions of light years in an instant of time.

Radometric samples are accurately handled and honestly evaluated in laboratories all over the world. But using the result of accurate laboratory information to arrive at a deep time date is a leap of faith. It is simply impossible to know either the original condition of the sample or the conditions prior to any witnesses who wrote down their observations. Since we know nothing of the condition of the original sample or what has happened to the sample since then, the laboratory results can only give us the oldest possible date in a range of dates. The interpreter also believes that nothing ever had any affect on the sample. A true scientific interpretation of the data would say that the age of the sample could be anywhere within a range beginning just before the sample was tested up to the oldest possible date.

Any date relying on counting existing material, such as the salt content of the ocean, varves, the number of craters on the moon or the layers in a glacier all require assuming deep time to be true to return a value using deep time. There is no observable evidence possible to scientifically prove that present processes formed the salt in the sea, the position of the continents, the number of craters on the moon, the formation of glaciers or any other current process.

The Grand Canyon was formed by an upthrust (uplift). Once we recognize that catastrophes, even local ones, formed the world we know and see today, we must state scientifically that the present is not the key to the past.

Using language in the normal way we use language, the only evidence of deep time is a religious leap of faith. If you believe in deep time, it is because you choose to. Not only is there no evidence of deep time, because we cannot send observers back in time (not even with the Hubble telescope), evidence is not possible.

“Unbelievable” is the proper response if you do not believe. Because it is completely belief.

What does Landru need to free his world from his conquering foe? Where can he look for allies when those he depended on shake his trust to its core? Will a journey to the Great Pyramid and Stonhenge give him the teacher he needs to understand his faith? Who will fight with him when the only army he has left is trapped on another world, in another time?

The Center Circle continues to promote division rather than unity in the second installment, but Landru and Brenna grow in understanding and maturity. The Weapons of Warfare are only part of what Landru has to search for, and Biddison’s success in this book is more in teaching readers how to deal with limitations than in tidily resolving all the problems. Not everything that was lost is found. Not everything that was broken is fixed. But the hope he gives as things begin to come together keeps the reader going.

There are no tidy resolutions, but that’s what Book Three is for, I think. In the meantime, just as our faith grows and our battles go on, the Center Circle characters show us glimpses of hope that we. too, can find victory through faith.

I think I was required to read The Red Badge of Courage in High School. Normally a compliant student, I failed to complete that assignment. I don’t really like war stories, particularly graphically realistic and gruesome ones. I did, however, finish reading They Met at Shiloh. Yes, there is extreme realism in the description of the battle scenes and aftermath. But even if you’re very squeamish like me, here’s why you should read it anyway.

I swear I was there, trudging down those endless roads, rolling up those bedrolls, changing from my nightcap to my forage cap, hot, cold, sweat-soaked and rain-soaked, right along with these characters. Michael, Stephen, Robert, Phillip — I know them. Bryant gives such a richness of detail to his scenes, his clothing, and his characters. I smelled the powder and the blood. I saw that horrible pool you must read about to understand.

Above all else, I saw how real men felt and described their different Christian faiths, something glaringly missing from anything Stephen Crane might have written. Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, as well as those who only scratched their heads at another’s belief (or screamed that it was hypocritical and false) all had their say. Crane gave us no hope. Bryant didn’t “save” everybody, or straighten everybody out to one belief, even. He let them grope, struggle, and come to grips or turn away in bewilderment as real men do.

That isn’t to say the message of what brings a man peace in Christ wasn’t clear. It was realistically presented, but not everybody understood what was happening or how it applied to them. Green soldiers think they understand how to do battle before they really engage. Some run. Some fumble. Some understand and do exactly what they must to do their duty. So it is with the lost. As prepared or unprepared as they may be by our poor efforts, God gives the increase.

Like any religion which enthrones man in God’s place, there is a desperate and irrational need to attack true religion. “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence,”3 says Richard Dawkins. In the Bible, in the founding documents of US history and in the US court system prior to the liberal takeover, belief was (and still is in reality) a legal term. Belief is the decision of a juror based on evidence. Faith is the action one takes based on belief based on tested evidence. The modern Secular Humanist twists the word “faith ” to mean the opposite of its historical definition. “Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.”4 This is the “blind leap of faith ” of Karl Barth and neo-orthodoxy, not the historic meaning of faith found in the Bible and US history.

The faith of the secularist, which is truly “in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence,” has a religious belief that the material universe is all that is, was or ever will be. The material universe is the ultimate reality. “Who is more humble?” asked Carl Sagan, “The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book [the Bible] must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?”5 Sagan is pretending humility while arrogantly dismissing the possibility that God might have actually written down His words out of love for his creation.